Trafigura Leases 35 Crude Oil and Product Tankers

Commodity trader Trafigura had leased 35 newly built crude oil and oil product tankers from an undisclosed Asian financial partner with the vessels expected to be delivered late this week and all through 2019, the company said.

"Until 2020, the vessels will run on regular fuel, and from then onwards, whenever allowed (some ports do not allow usage of open loop scrubber), they will burn high sulphur fuel oil, which is possible due to the scrubber onboard each vessel," a company spokesman told Reuters on Friday.

The tankers, which will be registered in Singapore, are being built in South Korea and China and will include medium-range tankers, long-range two vessels and Suezmax tankers, the company said.

"The order for the 35 newly built vessels ... has been placed by a close Asian financial partner and the vessels are being leased on delivery to Trafigura with options to purchase at a later stage," the company added.

The majority of the vessels are being delivered in the first quarter of next year, the company added.

(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)